Plated terminations and method of forming using electrolytic plating

ABSTRACT

A multilayer electronic component includes a plurality of dielectric layers interleaved with a plurality of internal electrodes. Internal and/or external anchor tabs may also be selectively interleaved with the dielectric layers. Portions of the internal electrodes and anchor tabs are exposed along the periphery of the electronic component in respective groups. Each exposed portion is within a predetermined distance from other exposed portions in a given group such that termination structures may be formed by deposition and controlled bridging of a thin-film plated material among selected of the exposed internal conductive elements. Electrolytic plating may be employed in conjunction with optional cleaning and annealing steps to form directly plated portions of copper, nickel or other conductive material. Once an initial thin-film metal is directly plated to a component periphery, additional portions of different materials may be plated thereon.

PRIORITY CLAIMS

This application claims the benefit of priority as acontinuation-in-part application of previously filed U.S. Utility patentapplication entitled “PLATED TERMINATIONS”, filed Feb. 25, 2005 andassigned U.S. Ser. No. 11/066,575 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,344,981, which inturn is a divisional application of previously filed U.S. Utility patentapplication entitled “PLATED TERMINATIONS”, filed Apr. 6, 2004 andassigned U.S. Ser. No. 10/818,951 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,177,137, which inturn is a continuation-in-part application of previously filed U.S.Utility patent application entitled “PLATED TERMINATIONS”, filed Aug. 1,2003 and assigned U.S. Ser. No. 10/632,514, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,960,366,which in turn is a continuation-in-part application of previously filedU.S. Utility patent application entitled “PLATED TERMINATIONS” filedApr. 8, 2003 and assigned U.S. Ser. No. 10/409,023 now U.S. Pat. No.7,152,291, which application claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication entitled “PLATED TERMINATIONS,” filed Apr. 15, 2002 andassigned U.S. Ser. No. 60/372,673. The complete disclosures of all ofthe foregoing applications are fully incorporated herein by referencefor all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present subject matter generally concerns improved terminationfeatures for multilayer electronic components, and more particularlyrelates to plated terminations for multilayer electronic components,such as capacitors, resistors, inductors, etc. or for integrated passivecomponents. The subject termination designs utilize selectivearrangements of internal and/or external electrode tabs to facilitatethe formation of plated electrical connections. The external connectionsare preferably made whereby the provision of typical thick filmtermination stripes is eliminated or greatly simplified.

Many modern electronic components are packaged as monolithic devices,and may comprise a single component or multiple components within asingle chip package. One specific example of such a monolithic device isa multilayer capacitor or capacitor array, and of particular interestwith respect to the disclosed technology are multilayer capacitors withinterdigitated internal electrode layers and corresponding electrodetabs. Examples of multilayer capacitors that include features ofinterdigitated capacitor (IDC) technology can be found in U.S. Pat. No.5,880,925 (DuPré et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,243,253 B1 (DuPré et al.).Other monolithic electronic components correspond to devices thatintegrate multiple passive components into a single chip structure. Suchan integrated passive component may provide a selected combination ofresistors, capacitors, inductors and/or other passive components thatare formed in a multilayered configuration and packaged as a monolithicelectronic device.

Selective terminations are often required to form electrical connectionsfor various monolithic electronic components. Multiple terminations areneeded to provide electrical connections to the different electroniccomponents of an integrated monolithic device. Multiple terminations arealso often used in conjunction with IDC's and other multilayer arrays inorder to reduce undesirable inductance levels. One exemplary way thatmultiple terminations have been formed in multilayer components is bydrilling vias through selected areas of a chip structure and filling thevias with conductive material such that an electrical connection isformed among selected electrode portions of the device.

Another way of forming external terminations for the subject devices isto apply a thick film stripe of silver or copper in a glass matrix toexposed portions of internal electrode layers, and subsequently platingadditional layers of metal over the termination stripes such that a partis solderable to a substrate. An example of an electronic component withexternal electrodes formed by fired terminations and metal films platedthereon is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,921 (Sano et al.). Theapplication of terminations is often hard to control and can becomeproblematic with reduction in chip sizes. U.S. Pat. No. 6,232,144 B1(McLoughlin) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,214,685 B1 (Clinton et al.) concernmethods for forming terminations on selected regions of an electronicdevice.

The ever-shrinking size of electronic components makes it quitedifficult to print termination stripes in a predetermined area withrequired precision. Thick film termination stripes are typically appliedwith a machine that grabs a chip and applies selective terminations withspecially designed and/or engraved wheels. U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,897(Braden), U.S. Pat. No. 5,863,331 (Braden et al.), U.S. Pat. No.5,753,299 (Garcia et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,382 (Braden) disclosemechanical features and steps related to the application of terminationstripes to a chip structure. Reduced component size or an increasednumber of termination contacts for an electronic chip device may causethe resolution limits of typical termination machines to become maxedout.

Other problems that can arise when trying to apply selectiveterminations include shifting of the termination lands, mispositioningof terminations such that internal electrode tabs are exposed or missedentirely, and missing wrap-around termination portions. Yet furtherproblems may be caused when too thin a coating of the paint-liketermination material is applied or when one portion of terminationcoating smears into another causing shorted termination lands. These andother concerns surrounding the provision of electrical termination formonolithic devices create a need to provide inexpensive and effectivetermination features for electronic chip components.

In light of component miniaturization and concerns with providingterminations that do not short together, especially when positioningmultiple components in proximity on a circuit board, U.S. Pat. No.6,380,619 (Ahiko et al.) provides a chip type electronic componenthaving external electrodes that are spaced at predetermined distancesfrom side surfaces of a ceramic substrate. More particularly, electroniccomponents having three-sided terminations as opposed to moreconventional five-sided terminations are disclosed. Such components withthree-sided terminations are more easily provided in an adjacentrelationship with one another without shorting together distinctcomponent terminations. Some embodiments disclosed in Ahiko et al.include electroplated films applied to the exposed portions ofindividual electrodes.

Yet another known option related to termination application involvesaligning a plurality of individual substrate components to a shadowmask. Parts can be loaded into a particularly designed fixture, such asthat disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,076 (Lutz et al.), and thensputtered through a mask element. This is typically a very expensivemanufacturing process, and thus other effective yet more cost efficienttermination provisions may be desirable.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,880,011 (Zablotny et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,770,476(Stone), U.S. Pat. No. 6,141,846 (Miki), and U.S. Pat. No. 3,258,898(Garibotti), respectively deal with aspects of the formation ofterminations for various electronic components.

Additional background references that address methodology for formingmultilayer ceramic devices include U.S. Pat. No. U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,164(Ling et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,265 (Maher), U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,378(Dorrian), and U.S. Pat. No. 3,988,498 (Maher).

While various aspects and alternative features are known in the field ofelectronic components and terminations therefor, no one design hasemerged that generally addresses all of the issues as discussed herein.The disclosures of all the foregoing U.S. patents are hereby fullyincorporated into this application by reference thereto.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present subject matter recognizes and addresses various of theforegoing shortcomings, and others concerning certain aspects ofelectrical terminations and related technology. Thus, broadly speaking,a principal object of the presently disclosed technology is improvedtermination features for electronic components. More particularly, thedisclosed termination features are plated and designed to eliminate orgreatly simplify thick-film stripes that are typically printed alongportions of a monolithic device for termination purposes.

Another principal object of the presently disclosed technology is tooffer a way to guide the formation of plated terminations through theprovision of internal electrode elements and the optional placement ofadditional anchor tabs. Both internal electrode elements and additionalanchor tabs can facilitate the formation of secure and reliable externalplating. Anchor tabs, which typically provide no internal electricalconnections, may be provided for enhanced external terminationconnectivity, better mechanical integrity and deposition of platingmaterials. The location of exposed internal conductive elements(including electrodes and anchor tabs) enables the deposition andformation of plated termination structures in a “self-determining”process.

Yet another principal object of the present subject matter is to providetermination features for electronic components whereby typicalthick-film termination stripes are eliminated or simplified, and onlyplated terminations are needed to effect many of the external electrodeconnections for a given component. Plated materials in accordance withthe disclosed technology may comprise metallic conductors, resistivematerials, and/or semi-conductive materials.

A still further principal object of the subject termination technologyis that termination features can be used in accordance with a variety ofmultilayer monolithic devices, including, for example, low inductanceceramic capacitors and capacitor arrays, multilayer ceramic capacitorsand capacitor arrays, and integrated passive components. Integratedpassive components may include a select combination of resistors,capacitors, varistors, inductors, baluns, couplers, and/or other passivecomponents.

A resultant advantage of the disclosed subject matter is thattermination features for electronic components can be effected withoutthe need for application by termination machinery, thus providing anability to yield external terminations with resolution levels that mayotherwise be unattainable. Such improved termination resolution alsoenables the provision of more terminations within a given component areaand terminations with a much finer pitch, thus reducing over ESL valuesassociated with such terminations.

A general object of the present technology is to provide terminationfeatures that enable an effective solder base with reducedsusceptibility to solder leaching and also lowered insulationresistance. Another general object of this technology is to providetermination features that enable an effective metal base forwirebonding. Stated another way, with the present ability toelectroplate certain materials (for example, such as nickel or gold), apresent object is to make it possible to provide a termination forwirebonding. Configuration of exposed electrode portions and anchor tabportions is designed such that selected adjacent exposed tab portionsare decorated with plated termination material without undesiredbridging among distinct termination locations.

Yet another object of the present subject matter is that the disclosedtechnology can be utilized in accordance with a myriad of differenttermination configurations, including varied numbers and placement ofexternal terminations. Plated terminations can be formed in accordancewith a variety of different plating techniques as disclosed herein atlocations that are self-determined by the provision of exposedconductive elements on the periphery of an electronic component.

A still further object of the subject plated termination technology isto facilitate the production of more inexpensive and effectiveelectronic components in an expedient and reliable manner. One keyreason why this is accomplished is that the subject termination platingprocess uses “batch” processing instead of individual termination.

Further advantages of the subject technology include formation ofthin-film termination structures for electronic components that areselectively formed in self-determined locations with precise terminalshape and alignment. The resultant termination structures and electroniccomponents exhibit reliable electrical and mechanical properties,including low volatile component emissions.

Additional objects and advantages of the present subject matter are setforth in, or will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artfrom, the detailed description herein. Also, it should be furtherappreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifications andvariations to the specifically illustrated, referenced, and discussedfeatures hereof may be practiced in various embodiments and uses of thedisclosed technology without departing from the spirit and scopethereof, by virtue of present reference thereto. Such variations mayinclude, but are not limited to, substitution of equivalent means andfeatures, or materials for those shown, referenced, or discussed, andthe functional, operational, or positional reversal of various parts,features, or the like.

Still further, it is to be understood that different embodiments, aswell as different presently preferred embodiments, of this subjectmatter may include various combinations or configurations of presentlydisclosed features or elements, or their equivalents (includingcombinations of features or configurations thereof not expressly shownin the figures or stated in the detailed description).

A first exemplary embodiment of the present subject matter relates to amultilayer electronic component including a plurality of dielectriclayers, a plurality of internal electrodes, and at least one portion ofelectrochemical deposit. The plurality of electrode layers arerespectively delimited laterally by edges and the internal electrodelayers are selectively interleaved among the plurality of dielectriclayers such that selected portions of the internal electrodes extend toand are exposed in respective groups along at least one edge of theplurality of dielectric layers. The interleaved combination ofdielectric layers and internal electrodes forms a monolithic assemblycharacterized by respective topmost and bottommost surfaces. The atleast one portion of electrochemical deposit corresponds to a thin-filmplating material formed along the periphery of the multilayer componentto connect exposed portions of the plurality of internal electrodeswithin each respective group.

In some more particular embodiments, internal anchor tabs are alsointerleaved among the plurality of dielectric layers and exposed alongat least one edge of the plurality of dielectric layers. External anchortabs may also be provided on the topmost and/or bottommost surfaces ofthe monolithic assembly. The anchor tabs may be exposed in the samegroups as the exposed portions of the electrode layers. In someembodiments, the distance between exposed portions of internalelectrodes (and optional anchor tabs) within each respective group is nogreater than about ten microns, and is less than about eight microns inother embodiments. The distance between adjacent groups of exposedinternal electrodes (and optional anchor tabs) in any given group may beat least twice as great as the distance between exposed internalelectrodes (and optional anchor tabs) in any given group. In stillfurther embodiments, the exposed groups are aligned in columns and thedistance between selected adjacent internal electrodes and internalanchor tabs in selected of the respective columns is closer towards thetopmost and bottommost surfaces of the monolithic assembly than at theinner layers.

In comparing electroless and electrolytic deposits, it should beunderstood that electroless deposits may include such as copper (Cu),nickel-phosphorous (Ni—P), nickel-boron (Ni—B), palladium (Pd), silver(Ag) and gold (Au), while electrolytic deposits may include copper (Cu),pure (i.e., not alloyed) nickel (Ni), palladium (Pd), silver (Ag), gold(Au), tin (Sn), tin-lead (Sn—Pb), tin-nickel (Sn—Ni) or other deposits.Generally, pure nickel electrolytic plating should have an advantage ofa plated nickel to internal nickel electrode bond that is otherwise notachievable by electroless chemistry. Also, added control is generallyrequired for electroless deposits due to greater depletion of bathchemistry components relative to electroytic baths. Some electrolessbaths have a tendency to plate out in areas where no metal is exposedversus electrolytic plating. Hard gold can only be depositedelectrolytically. Electrolytic deposits of the same metal will generallyhave different grain structure and mechanical properties versuselectroless deposits such that the type of plating can detected by knownforms of analysis, such as DPA and SEM/TEM analysis. However, bothelectroless and electrolytic plating have the same set of advantagesversus thick film termination including the higher electricalconductivity of the deposited metal versus metal-glass thick filmcomposite material deposits.

The thin-film electrochemical deposit directly plated to the peripheryof the multi-layer electronic component may correspond to copper (Cu) insome embodiments or to nickel (Ni) in other embodiments. Additionalmaterials may be used in place of nickel or copper, including Palladium(Pd), Tin (Sn), Gold (Au), Silver (Ag), or Tin (Sn)-Lead (Pb) alloys orother alloys. Additional portions of thin-film material may be providedon top of the initial portions, such as of copper or nickel or othermaterials. These may selectively include such materials as nickel, tin,gold, or others.

The present subject matter equally concerns methodology associated withforming multilayer electronic components in accordance with thedisclosed technology. One exemplary embodiment of such methodologyincludes the steps of providing a plurality of electronic components,providing an electrolytic plating solution with an electrical bias andfully immersing the plurality of electronic components in the platingsolution for a predetermined amount of time. The electronic componentsrespectively include a plurality of insulating substrate layersselectively interleaved with a plurality of internal conductiveelements. Selected portions of the internal conductive elements areexposed at locations along the periphery of each electronic componentsuch that immersion in the plating solution enables a plating materialto be deposited at selected exposed conductive portions of eachelectronic component. Respective termination structures are developed bycontrolled bridging of the plated material among selected of the exposedinternal conductive elements. In some embodiments, the predeterminedamount of time for which the plurality of electronic components areimmersed in the electrolytic plating solution corresponds to a requiredtime to build up plating material to a thickness of greater than aboutone micron. In other embodiments, it is desirable to build up platingmaterial to a thickness of between about two and about twenty microns.

In some more particular embodiments, the plating solution is a nickel orcopper electrolytic bath solution, such as but not limited to a copperacid solution or a nickel sulfamate solution with a controlled pH level.Before immersion in such exemplary plating solutions, electroniccomponents may initially be subjected to a cleaning step to remove anyoxides from the components. When the internal conductive elements areformed of nickel, this precleaning step is particularly advantageous inthe removal of any nickel oxide buildup. The cleaning step may involveimmersion in an acid preclean solution, chemical polishing, and/ormechanical agitation (e.g., harperizing) of the components. After thedisclosed electrolytic plating step, components may optionally besubjected to an annealing step whereby the components are heated toincrease component and termination strength and integrity in someembodiments. Additional layers of different materials may also be platedover the initially direct electroplated portions.

Additional embodiments of the present subject matter, not necessarilyexpressed in this summarized section, may include and incorporatevarious combinations of aspects of features or parts referenced in thesummarized objectives above, and/or features or parts as otherwisediscussed in this application.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will better appreciate the featuresand aspects of such embodiments, and others, upon review of theremainder of the specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

A full and enabling description of the present subject matter, includingthe best mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, isset forth in the specification, which makes reference to the appendedfigures, in which:

FIG. 1A illustrates a generally top exploded view of a known exemplaryelectrode layer configuration for a multilayer interdigitated capacitor;

FIG. 1B illustrates a generally side perspective view of an exemplarymultilayer interdigitated capacitor with an internal electrode layerconfiguration such as the known exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG.1A;

FIG. 2A illustrates a generally top exploded view of an exemplaryinternal electrode layer and anchor tab configuration for a multilayerinterdigitated capacitor in accordance with the present subject matter;

FIG. 2B illustrates a generally side perspective view of an exemplarymultilayer interdigitated capacitor in accordance with the presentsubject matter with internal electrode and anchor tab portions such asillustrated in FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3A illustrates a generally top exploded view of a known exemplaryinternal electrode layer configuration for a multilayer capacitor;

FIG. 3B illustrates a generally top exploded view of an exemplaryinternal electrode layer and anchor tab configuration for a multilayercapacitor in accordance with the present subject matter;

FIG. 4A illustrates a generally side perspective view of an exemplarymultilayer capacitor in accordance with the present subject matter withinternal electrode and anchor tab portions such as illustrated in FIG.3B;

FIG. 4B illustrates a generally side perspective view of an exemplarymultilayer interdigitated capacitor in accordance with the presentsubject matter, featuring internal electrode and anchor tab portionsexposed on four selected sides of the exemplary capacitor configuration;

FIGS. 5A and 5B respectively illustrate generally top views of a knownelectrode layer configuration for use in exemplary multilayer capacitorembodiments;

FIG. 5C illustrates a generally side perspective view of an exemplarymultilayer capacitor embodiment with electrode layer configurations suchas the known exemplary representations of FIGS. 5A and 5B;

FIGS. 6A and 6B respectively illustrate generally top views of anexemplary “T-shaped” electrode layer configuration in accordance withthe present subject matter for use in multilayer capacitor embodimentswith corner terminations;

FIG. 6C illustrates a generally side perspective view of an exemplarymultilayer capacitor embodiment in accordance with the present subjectmatter with electrode layer configurations such as those illustrated inFIGS. 6A and 6B;

FIGS. 6D and 6F illustrate alternative embodiments of an exemplarymultilayer capacitor embodiment similar to FIG. 6C and having electrodelayer configurations such as those illustrated in FIGS. 6A and 6B;

FIG. 6E illustrates the embodiment of FIG. 6D with plated terminationsapplied in accordance with the present subject matter and furtherdepicted in an exemplary orientation for mounting the embodiment to asubstrate;

FIG. 6G illustrates the embodiment of FIG. 6F with plated terminationsapplied in accordance with the present subject matter and furtherdepicted in an exemplary orientation for mounting the embodiment to asubstrate;

FIG. 7A illustrates a generally side perspective view of an exemplarycapacitor array with exposed electrode tabs;

FIG. 7B illustrates a generally side perspective view of an exemplarycapacitor array with plated terminations in accordance with the presentsubject matter;

FIG. 8A illustrates a generally side perspective view of an exemplarymultilayer interdigitated capacitor with plated terminations inaccordance with the present subject matter;

FIG. 8B illustrates a side cross-sectional view of an exemplarymultilayer interdigitated capacitor with exemplary plated terminationsin accordance with the disclosed technology taken along planar sectionline A-A of FIG. 8A;

FIG. 9A illustrates a generally side view, with slight top perspective,of an exemplary monolithic integrated passive component with exposedelectrode tabs and additional anchor tabs in accordance with thedisclosed technology;

FIG. 9B illustrates a generally side view, with slight top perspective,of an exemplary monolithic integrated passive component with platedterminations in accordance with the present subject matter;

FIG. 10A illustrates a generally side cross-sectional view of anexemplary multilayer electronic component having electrodes and anchortabs positioned and exposed for forming an “I-shaped” termination inaccordance with the presently disclosed technology;

FIG. 10B illustrates a generally side cross-sectional view of anexemplary multilayer electronic component with “I-shaped” terminations,such as formed via subjection of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 10A toselected plating processes as presently disclosed in accordance with thepresent subject matter;

FIG. 11A illustrates a generally side cross-sectional view of anexemplary multilayer electronic component having electrodes and anchortabs positioned and exposed for forming a “J-shaped” termination inaccordance with the presently disclosed technology;

FIG. 11B illustrates a generally side cross-sectional view of anexemplary multilayer electronic component with “J-shaped” terminations,such as formed via subjection of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 11A toselected plating processes as presently disclosed in accordance with thepresent subject matter;

FIG. 12A illustrates a generally side cross-sectional view of anexemplary multilayer electronic component having electrodes and anchortabs positioned and exposed for forming an “U-shaped” termination inaccordance with the presently disclosed technology;

FIG. 12B illustrates a generally side cross-sectional view of anexemplary multilayer electronic component with “U-shaped” terminations,such as formed via subjection of the embodiment depicted in FIG. 12A toselected plating processes as presently disclosed in accordance with thepresent subject matter;

FIGS. 13A and 13B respectively illustrate generally top views of anexemplary “J-shaped” electrode layer configuration in accordance withthe present subject matter for use in multilayer capacitor embodiments;

FIG. 13C illustrates a generally side perspective view of an exemplarymultilayer capacitor embodiment in accordance with the present subjectmatter with “J-shaped” electrode layer configurations such as thoseillustrated in FIGS. 13A and 13B;

FIGS. 14A and 14B respectively illustrate generally top views of anexemplary “T-shaped” electrode layer configuration in accordance withthe present subject matter for use in multilayer capacitor embodiments;

FIG. 14C illustrates a generally side perspective view of an exemplarymultilayer capacitor embodiment in accordance with the present subjectmatter with “T-shaped” electrode layer configurations such as thoseillustrated in FIGS. 14A and 14B;

FIGS. 15A and 15B respectively illustrate generally top views of anexemplary rectangular electrode layer configuration in accordance withthe present subject matter for use in multilayer capacitor embodiments;

FIG. 15C illustrates a generally side perspective view of an exemplarymultilayer capacitor embodiment in accordance with the present subjectmatter with rectangular electrode layer configurations such as thoseillustrated in FIGS. 15A and 15B;

FIGS. 16A and 16B respectively illustrate generally top views of anexemplary electrode layer configuration for effecting opposing cornerterminations for use in multilayer capacitor embodiments in accordancewith the present subject matter;

FIG. 16C illustrates a generally side perspective view of an exemplarymultilayer capacitor embodiment with electrode layer configurations suchas illustrated in FIGS. 16A and 16B in accordance with the presentsubject matter;

FIG. 16D illustrates a generally side perspective view of the exemplarymultilayer capacitor embodiment of FIG. 16C provided with platedterminations in accordance with the present subject matter and orientedin an exemplary mounting configuration;

FIGS. 17A and 17B respectively illustrate generally top views of anexemplary electrode layer configuration with multiple side tabs andextended end portions for use in multilayer capacitor embodiments inaccordance with the present subject matter;

FIG. 17C illustrates a generally side perspective view of an exemplarymultilayer capacitor embodiment with embedded electrode layerconfigurations such as illustrated in FIGS. 17A and 17B in accordancewith the present subject matter;

FIG. 18 depicts an exemplary terminated multilayer capacitor inaccordance with the presently disclosed technology;

FIG. 19A illustrates an exemplary cross-section of the multilayercapacitor of FIG. 18 taken along lines B-B and C-C, specificallydepicting the use of internal anchor tabs in the cover layers only of amultilayer capacitor;

FIG. 19B illustrates an exemplary cross-section of the multilayercapacitor of FIG. 18 taken along lines B-B and C-C, specificallydepicting the use of internal anchor tabs in both the cover layers andactive layers of a multilayer capacitor;

FIG. 19C illustrates an exemplary cross-section of the multilayercapacitor of FIG. 18 taken along lines B-B and C-C, specificallydepicting the use of internal anchor tabs in the cover layers and activelayers of a multilayer capacitor having reduced number of active layersand corresponding capacitance;

FIG. 19D illustrates an exemplary cross-section of the multilayercapacitor of FIG. 18 taken along lines B-B and C-C, specificallydepicting the use of common electrode layers in the cover layers of amultilayer capacitor;

FIG. 20 depicts an exemplary terminated multilayer capacitor inaccordance with the presently disclosed technology;

FIGS. 21A and 21B respectively illustrate exemplary cross-sections ofthe multilayer capacitor of FIG. 20 taken along lines D-D and E-E,specifically depicting the general shape of selected device cornersbefore and after corner rounding of the capacitor device;

FIG. 21C illustrates an exemplary cross-section of the multilayercapacitor of FIG. 20 taken along lines D-D and E-E, specificallydepicting an exemplary length relationship between the cover layeranchor tabs and the capacitor end margin;

FIG. 22 illustrates a close-up view of an exemplary cross-section of themultilayer capacitor taken along lines D-D and E-E, specificallydepicting the placement of cover layer anchor tabs in an incrementallyclose relationship towards top and/or bottom surfaces of the capacitor;

FIG. 23A illustrates an exemplary portion of a multilayer capacitorassembly that may be subjected to generally “V-shaped” dicing such asrepresented in FIG. 23B to produce multiple capacitors that after slightadditional corner rounding may appear as depicted in FIG. 23C;

FIG. 24 depicts an exemplary terminated multilayer capacitor inaccordance with the presently disclosed technology;

FIG. 25 illustrates an exemplary cross-section of the multilayercapacitor of FIG. 24 taken along plane F, depicting various visualfeatures of the exemplary plated terminations in accordance with thepresent subject matter;

FIG. 26A illustrates an exemplary detailed view of area G of thecapacitor cross-section depicted in FIG. 25, illustrating additionalvarious visual features of exemplary plated terminations in accordancewith the present subject matter;

FIG. 26B illustrates an exemplary detailed view of an area G of acapacitor cross-section as depicted in FIG. 25, illustrating additionalvarious visual features of exemplary plated terminations for a non metalpenetration embodiment in accordance with the present subject matter;and

FIG. 27 provides a graphical representation of single point ESLmeasurements versus the number of terminals in High Density PeripheralTermination (HDPT) capacitors designed in accordance with the presentsubject matter.

Repeat use of reference characters throughout the present specificationand appended drawings is intended to represent same or analogousfeatures, elements, or steps of the present subject matter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

As referenced in the Brief Summary of the Invention section, supra, thepresent subject matter is directed towards improved termination featuresfor monolithic electronic components.

The subject termination scheme utilizes exposed electrode portions ofstructures such as monolithic capacitor arrays, multilayer capacitorsincluding those with interdigitated electrode configurations, integratedpassive components, and other electronic chip structures. Additionalanchor tabs may be embedded within such monolithic components to providestacked pluralities of exposed internal conductive portions to whichplated terminations may be formed and securely positioned along theperiphery of a device.

By providing additional anchor tabs on selected top and/or bottomsurfaces of a chip device, wrap-around plated terminations may be formedthat extend along the side of a chip to one or more of the top andbottom layers. Such wrap-around terminations may be desirable in certainapplications to facilitate soldering of the chip to a printed circuitboard or other suitable substrate. Exposed tabs that extend along anentire side without wrapping around to the top and/or bottom layers maybe formed by providing anchor tabs into respective corner radiusportions of the top and bottom cover layers of the device, thusfacilitating a land-less termination that still enables good solderwetting to a printed circuit board or other mounting surface.

The subject plating technology and anchor tab features may be utilizedin accordance with a plurality of different monolithic components. FIGS.1A and 1B represent aspects of known interdigitated electrode layerconfigurations wherein electrode tabs generally extend to and areexposed on two selected sides of a multilayer component. Aspects ofplated terminations in accordance with the present subject matter arethereafter presented with respect to FIGS. 2A and 2B, which also concernmultilayer component embodiments with exposed conductive portions of twoselected sides of a device.

FIG. 3A illustrates aspects of a known electrode layer configurationwith electrode tabs for exposure on one selected side of a multilayerelectronic device. FIGS. 3B and 4A, respectively, relate to improvementsof the exemplary embodiment presented in FIG. 3A, providing for anexemplary multilayer capacitor with internal electrode tabs exposed onone selected side of the capacitor and featuring anchor tabs inaccordance with the present technology. FIG. 4B relates to an exemplarymultilayer interdigitated component with internal electrode tabs andanchor tabs exposed on four selected sides of the component inaccordance with the present subject matter.

Still further exemplary embodiments of the present subject matter relateto the multilayer capacitor configurations illustrated in FIGS. 6Athrough 6G, respectively, which are improvements to the exemplarymultilayer capacitor configurations of FIGS. 5A through 5C,respectively. Additional examples of multilayer capacitor configurationsare illustrated in FIGS. 13A through 13C, 14A through 14C, 15A through15C, 16A through 16D and 17A through 17C, respectively. Still furtherembodiments of the disclosed technology are presented with reference tothe exemplary capacitor arrays of FIGS. 7A and 7B. FIGS. 8A and 8B thenrepresent aspects of the subject plated termination features, whileFIGS. 9A and 9B concern an exemplary integrated passive component withselective terminations in accordance with the present subject matter. Asmore particular examples of possible uses of the presently disclosedtechnology, FIGS. 10A and 10B depict aspects of “I-shaped” terminations,while FIGS. 11A and 11B depict aspects of “J-shaped” terminations andFIGS. 12A and 12B depict aspects of “U-shaped” terminations. FIGS. 18Aand 19A through 19D illustrate exemplary variations of the incorporationof anchor tabs, active capacitor electrodes and common electrodes inmultilayer capacitors of the present technology. FIGS. 20, 21A through21C and 22 more specifically illustrate exemplary aspects associatedwith providing anchor tabs in cover layers of a multilayer electroniccomponent. FIGS. 23A through 23C, respectively, depict an exemplaryV-cut dicing option that facilitates generally angled off and eventuallyrounded edges and corners for embodiments of the present subject matter.FIGS. 24, 25 and 26 illustrate specific exemplary features associatedwith the subject plated terminations, and FIG. 27 provides a graphicalrepresentation of ESL values associated with exemplary embodiments ofthe disclosed technology having a relatively high number and density ofresultant peripheral terminations.

It should be noted that each of the exemplary embodiments as presentedherein should not insinuate limitations of the disclosed technology.More particularly, different electrode configurations than thoseillustrated may be utilized with the disclosed plating steps andstructures. Features illustrated or described as part of one embodimentcan be used in combination with another embodiment to yield furtherembodiments. Additionally, certain features may be interchanged withsimilar devices or features not mentioned yet which perform the same,similar or equivalent function.

Reference will now be made in detail to the presently preferredembodiments of the disclosed technology. Referring to the drawings, FIG.1A illustrates a known exemplary configuration of electrode layers 10and 12 with electrode tabs 14 for use in a multilayer interdigitatedcapacitor or capacitor array. Electrode layers are arranged in parallelwith tabs 14 extending from the layers such that electrode tabsextending from alternating electrode layers 10 and 12 are aligned inrespective columns. The exemplary illustration depicts four suchelectrode layers with corresponding tabs 14, but typical arrangements asutilized with the present technology may in some instances contain manymore electrode layers and respective tabs. This feature provides theoption of creating capacitive elements with a large range of capacitancevalues (by choosing the number of electrodes).

The exemplary electrode layer configuration of FIG. 1A is notrepresentative of a finished capacitor embodiment. Instead, FIG. 1Aprovides a reference for an intermediate aspect of exemplary capacitorand capacitor array configurations. The electrode layer configuration ofFIG. 1A can be utilized in accordance with an exemplary multilayerinterdigitated capacitor such as displayed in FIG. 1B.

An interdigitated capacitor typically consists of a plurality ofelectrode layers, such as those shown in FIG. 1A disposed in a body ofdielectric material 18, such as seen in the exemplary interdigitatedcapacitor configuration 16 of FIG. 1B. Electrode layers 10 and 12 aredisposed in the dielectric material 18 such that electrode tabs 14extend to and are exposed at two sides of IDC embodiment 16. Exemplarymaterials for such electrode layers may include platinum, nickel,silver, a palladium-silver alloy, other alloys of these materials, orother suitable conductive substances. Dielectric material 18 maycomprise barium titanate, zinc oxide, alumina with low-fire glass, orother suitable ceramic or glass-bonded materials. Alternatively, thedielectric may be an organic compound such as an epoxy (with or withoutceramic mixed in, with or without fiberglass), popular as circuit boardmaterials, or other plastics common as dielectrics. In these cases theconductor is usually a copper foil which is chemically etched to providethe patterns.

Exemplary IDC embodiment 16 may alternatively be viewed as a multilayerconfiguration of alternating electrode layers and dielectric layers inportion 20 of the device. IDC 16 is typically further characterized by atopmost dielectric layer 22 and bottommost dielectric layer 24 that maybe built up to be generally thicker than other dielectric layer portionsof IDC configuration 16. Such dielectric layers 22 and 24 act as coverlayers to protect the device and provide sufficient bulk to withstandthe stress of glass/metal frit that may be fired to a capacitor body.Known capacitor embodiments have utilized the multilayer arrangement ofFIG. 1B, and the present subject matter utilizes aspects of suchconfiguration 16 in accordance with additional features disclosedherein.

A multilayer IDC component 16 such as that of FIG. 1B that incorporatesthe known exemplary electrode layer configuration of FIG. 1A ischaracterized by electrode portions 14 that are exposed on two selectedsides of IDC component 16. Other exemplary internal electrodeconfigurations may be employed in a multilayer component such thatinternal electrode portions are exposed at different locations and/or ondifferent numbers of sides of the device.

For example, consider the exemplary internal electrode layerconfiguration illustrated in the exploded view of FIG. 3A. Alternatingelectrode layers 26 and 28 are provided with electrode tab portions 30extending toward a single selected direction. Electrode tabs 30 for eachset of alternating electrode layers are preferably arranged in a stackedconfiguration such that, for instance, tabs 30 from electrode layers 26are aligned in two respective columns. A similar alignment situationpreferably holds for tabs 30 of electrode layers 28. A multilayercapacitor or other passive component that utilizes the exemplaryinternal electrode configuration of FIG. 3A will typically be configuredsuch that electrode tab portions 30 are exposed on a single selectedside of the component.

Yet another exemplary internal electrode layer configuration providesfor electrode tabs that are exposed on four sides of a multilayerinterdigitated component. Such internal electrode layers may be similarto the configuration depicted in FIG. 1A wherein each alternatingelectrode layer 10 and 12 has additional tab portions on the sides ofthe layers adjacent to the sides from which tab portions 14 extend.

A still further exemplary electrode layer configuration andcorresponding multilayer capacitor embodiment is depicted in FIGS. 5Athrough 5C, respectively. A first plurality of internal electrode layers32 such as in FIG. 5A are interleaved with internal electrode layers 34,such as in FIG. 5B, in a body of dielectric material 36 to form amultilayer capacitor 38 such as in FIG. 5C. In such exemplary multilayercomponent 38, portions 40 of one set of electrode layers 32 or 34 isexposed on side 42 of component 38. The portions of the other set ofelectrode layers 32 or 34 are thus exposed on the side of the deviceopposite of side 42 (not seen in the drawing).

Referring again to FIG. 1B, a typical conventional termination for IDCembodiment 16 and for other monolithic electronic components comprises aprinted and fired thick-film stripe of silver, copper, or other suitablemetal in a glass matrix, on top of which is plated a layer of nickel topromote leach resistance, and is followed by a layer of tin or solderalloy which protects the nickel from oxidation, and promotes an easilysoldered termination.

A thick-film stripe in accordance with such type of termination alsotypically requires printed application by a termination machine andprinting wheel or other suitable component to transfer a metal-loadedpaste. Such printing hardware may have resolution limits that make ithard to apply thick-film stripes, especially to smaller chips. A typicalexisting size for an IDC 16 or other electronic component is about onehundred and twenty mils (thousandths of an inch) by sixty mils along thetwo opposing sets of sides with a thickness from top to bottom layers ofabout thirty mils. When more than four terminations need to be appliedto a part this size or terminations are desired for a part with smallerdimensions, the resolution levels of specialized termination machineryoften becomes a limitation in applying effective termination stripes.

The present subject matter offers a termination scheme that eliminatesor greatly simplifies the provision of such typical thick-filmtermination stripes. By eliminating the less-controlled thick filmstripe, the need for typical termination printing hardware is obviated.Termination features in accordance with the disclosed technology focusmore on the plated layer of nickel, tin, copper, etc. that is typicallyformed over a thick-film termination stripe.

With plated terminations in accordance with the presently disclosedtechnology, it should be appreciated that it is possible to formterminations that are the same width along a component's periphery asthat of the exposed internal electrodes. In prior art terminationschemes, where thick-film termination stripes are applied, theterminations are typically wider than the exposed electrode portions toaccount for potential misregistration of exposed tabs. Exposed electrodeportions in such prior art embodiments must typically be narrow enoughto not only ensure complete coverage thereof by the terminations, butalso to ensure that adjacent terminations do not short together. Inaccordance with aspects of the presently disclosed plated terminations,the pitch between adjacent columns of exposed internal electrode padsneed not be as great. Since the potential problems associated withthick-film terminations are eliminated in many embodiments, capacitorsmay be made with electrode tabs having greater width, or reduced pitchbetween adjacent columns of electrode tabs, or with a higher number ofelectrode tabs. Each of the aforementioned capacitor modificationsyields electronic components with advantageously lower equivalent seriesinductance (ESL).

ESL can be particularly lowered when more electrode tabs are utilized ina multilayer capacitor embodiment and when columns of such electrodetabs are closer together. Interdigitated capacitors having a relativelylarge number of electrode tabs per electrode have a resulting largenumber of electrical terminals and are thus often referred to as HighDensity Peripheral Termination (HDPT) capacitors. The construction andtermination of such parts is facilitated in accordance with thepresently disclosed technology, thus achieving components with improvedESL characteristics. A graph illustrating this phenomenon is provided inFIG. 27, which shows several curves modeling the single point ESL inpicoHenries (pH) versus number of terminals in an interdigitatedcapacitor. The curve with the diamond-shaped data point corresponds tothe measured ESL for HDPT capacitors with 8-10 terminals having a pitchof about 760 μm. The curve with the square-shaped data pointscorresponds to the measured ESL for HDPT capacitors with 8-32 terminalshaving a pitch between terminals of about 500 μm. The solid circulardata point and portion of the corresponding line between 8-10 terminalsrepresents the measured ESL versus number of terminals with a terminalpitch of 375 μm. The portion of the line extending beyond the soldcircular data point (>10 terminals) represents the predicted ESL versusnumber of terminals with terminals having a pitch of about 375 μm.Circular data point 250 represents the predicted ESL for an 0306 sizeinterdigitated capacitor (IDC) having a 400 μm pitch between its 10terminals. Circular data point 252 represents the predicted ESL for an0612 size IDC having a 375 μm pitch among its 22 terminals. Circulardata point 254 corresponds to the predicted ESL for a 1616 size IDChaving a 375 μm pitch between components. The predicted ESL from themodel is clearly lower from either the experimental data or fromexpectation of those of ordinary skill in the art. As should beunderstood by one of ordinary skill in the art, a component size of“XXYY” corresponds to one having a width dimension of 0.XX inches and alength dimension of 0.YY inches.

Now consider the exemplary capacitor array configuration 44 presented inFIG. 7A. Capacitor array 44 is characterized by a plurality of internalelectrodes and corresponding electrode tabs 46 embedded in a body ofdielectric material 48. As opposed to the electrode layers of exemplaryIDC configuration 16, the electrode tabs 46 of capacitor array 44typically correspond to separate internal electrodes. By subjectingcapacitor array 44 or other electronic component with similarly exposedelectrode tabs to an electroless plating solution, for example nickel orcopper ionic solution, or to an electrolytic plating solution with anelectrical bias, the formation of plated terminations 50, such as isshown in FIG. 7B, is preferably effected. Electrical bias forelectrolytic plating solution is established by external power supplywith negative or minus connection to the electronic component requiringformation of plated terminations and positive or plus connection toproper solid anode material (e.g., Cu in Cu plating solution) in thesame electrolytic plating solution. Exposure to such solution enablesthe exposed electrode tabs 46 to become deposited with nickel, copper,tin or other metallic plating. The resulting deposition of platedmaterial is preferably enough to effect an electrical connection betweenadjacent electrode tabs 46 in a stacked column. The distance betweenadjacent electrode tabs in a column of tabs should preferably be nogreater than about ten microns to ensure proper plating, and may be lessthan about eight microns in some embodiments. The one to ten microndistances between electrodes can be maintained in accordance with thepresent subject matter for most embodiments by the addition of anchor ornon-functional tabs. The distance between adjacent columnar stacks ofelectrode tabs 46 should thus be greater by at least a factor of 2 thanthis minimum distance to ensure that distinct terminations 50 do not runtogether. In some embodiments of the present technology, the distancebetween adjacent columnar stacks of exposed metallization is about fourtimes the distance between adjacent exposed electrode tabs 46 in aparticular stack. By controlling the distance between exposed internalconductor portions, termination connectivity can be manipulated to formbridged or non-bridged terminations depending on the desired terminationconfiguration.

Plated terminations 50 are thus guided by the positioning of the exposedelectrode tabs 46. This phenomena is hereafter referred to as“self-determining” since the formation of plated terminations 50 isdetermined by the configuration of exposed metallization at selectedperipheral locations on multilayer component, or capacitor array, 44.The exposed internal electrode tabs 46 also help anchor terminations 50to the periphery of capacitor array 44′, which corresponds to amultilayer capacitor embodiment such as 44 of FIG. 7A with the additionof plated terminations 50. Further assurance of complete platingcoverage and bonding of the metals may be achieved by includingresistance-reducing additives in the plating solution.

A still further mechanism for enhancing the adhesion of metallic depositthat forms the subject plated terminations is to thereafter heat thecomponent in accordance with such technologies as baking, lasersubjection, UV exposure, microwave exposure, arcwelding, etc. Thisheating step, also referred to in the art as annealing, often results inthe diffusion of some of the plated termination material into theadjacent exposed conductive portions (e.g., internal electrodes,internal and/or external anchor tabs). The resultant diffusion evidentfrom such an annealing process is represented in the example of FIG.26A, which displays a detailed view of the area G from FIG. 25, whichrespectively illustrates an exemplary cross-section of the multilayerdevice of FIG. 24 taken along plane F. When conductive portion 204 (forexample, copper plating) is formed at an exposed conductive portion 260(for example, a Nickel electrode) some copper from portion 204 willdiffuse into the portion 260. This phenomenon is represented by thedownward gradient shading in portion 260. The annealing step may alsoresult in some voiding in selected portions of the plated terminations(for example in plated layer 206). Such voiding (represented byexemplary areas 262) may be the result of “Kirkendall” voiding, wherediffusion of the adjacent conductive portions during annealing causesformed alloy(s) to take up less volume than the original constituents.Somewhat to a degree in contrast, the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 26B(a non metal penetration embodiment of the present subject matter) doesnot have such voiding areas 262, does not have the activator materialtraces 202, and does not have some portion of 204 diffusing into theportion 260.

The plated terminations 50 of FIG. 7B may be sufficiently formed forsome component applications, but sometimes the exposed metallizationfrom internal electrode tabs is insufficient to form theself-determining terminations of the present technology. In such case,it may be beneficial, and in some cases necessary, to provide additionalanchor tabs embedded within select portions of a monolithic component.Anchor tabs are short conductive tabs that typically offer no electricalfunctionality to a component, but mechanically nucleate and secureadditional plated termination along the periphery of a monolithicdevice. Exposed anchor tabs in combination with exposed internalelectrode portions can provide sufficient exposed metallization tocreate more effective self-determining terminations. Exposed anchor tabsin combination with exposed internal electrodes can be used to reducethe distance between exposed electrodes and tabs to less than tenmicrons to insure continuous metal deposit with no gaps and topotentially improve deposit adhesion by providing more directelectrolytically plated metal to internal and exposed metal contactareas.

For instance, consider the exploded configuration of exemplary internalmetallization illustrated in FIG. 2A. Alternating electrode layers 52and 54 are provided in a similar configuration to the electrode layersof FIG. 1A, with electrode tab portions 56 extending from selectedlocations of electrode layers 52 and 54. Additional anchor tabs 58 arealso preferably provided in the same plane as active electrode layers 52and 54 such that they are also exposed at selected locations along amultilayer component, yet offer no internal electrical connections.Additional anchor tabs may also be provided in the cover layers of amultilayer component and exposed along selected sides such that theformation of self-determining plated terminations that extend along evenmore of the component periphery is enabled.

With reference to FIG. 2B, multilayer component 60 corresponds to anexemplary multilayer capacitor embodiment in accordance with the presentsubject matter. Portion 62 of multilayer component 60 preferablycomprises the exemplary interdigitated electrode layer and anchor tabconfiguration of FIG. 2A embedded within a portion of dielectricmaterial. Solid lines 56 along the periphery of portion 62 are intendedto represent exposed portions of the electrode tabs 56 of FIG. 2A, anddashed lines 58 along the periphery of portion 62 represent exposedanchor tabs 58. Additional anchor tabs (not illustrated in FIG. 2A) maybe embedded within dielectric cover layers 64 and 66 (exposed portionsof which are represented by dashed lines 68) to further provide anarrangement of exposed metallization for facilitating the formation ofself-determining plated terminations in accordance with the presentsubject matter. Internal anchor tabs are preferably aligned in agenerally similar column as a stack of internal electrode tabs such thatall internal tabs are arranged in common stacks. It was previouslymentioned that the distance between adjacent electrode tabs in a columnof tabs should preferably be no greater than about ten microns to ensureproper plating. It should be appreciated that this distance shouldgenerally reflect the distance between exposed conductive portionsincluding exposed electrode tabs and anchor tabs, when such structuresare utilized. Although it may be recommended that some exemplaryembodiments of the present technology have a distance between adjacentexposed conductive portions in a given column of no greater than aboutten microns, such distance may be less than about eight microns in someembodiments.

For some component applications, it may be preferred that terminationsnot only extend along the entire width of a component, but also wraparound to the top and/or bottom layers. In this case, external anchortabs, or lands, 70 may be positioned on top and bottom layers ofmultilayer IDC 60 such that plated terminations can form along the sidesand on portions of the top and bottom layers, forming extended solderlands. For example, the provision of embedded internal anchor tabs 58and 68 and external anchor tabs 70 along with existing exposed electrodetabs 56 in IDC 60, such as depicted in FIG. 2B, would facilitate theformation of wrap-around plated terminations 72, such as in FIG. 8A.

Additional insight into the selective use of anchor tabs in accordancewith the presently disclosed technology is depicted in FIGS. 18 and19A-19D, respectively. FIGS. 19A, 19B, 19C and 19D each illustraterespective exemplary cross-sections of the multilayer capacitorillustrated in FIG. 18 when taken along the planes represented by linesB and C. FIG. 19A illustrates an exemplary multilayer device whereanchor tabs 192 are embedded in the cover layers such that terminationscan be formed that extend along the entire height of a device. It isadvantageous in certain embodiments to extend the termination to the topand/or bottom surface of the device such that when the device issubjected to process(es) for creating generally rounded edges, land-lessterminations can be applied that still facilitate effective solderwetting to a printed circuit board or other mounting substrate. In someexemplary embodiments, anchor tabs 192 may be embedded at distanceswithin two mils (more specifically, within about 1.0-1.5 mils) from topand/or bottom device surfaces. In still further embodiments, multilayerdevices may have relatively thin cover layers (e.g., less than about twomils), which serves to lower the equivalent series inductance (ESL) of adevice.

Referring now to FIG. 19B, it may be desirable in some embodiments ofthe present subject matter to provide internal anchor tabs in the activelayers (depicted as anchor tabs 194) as well as the cover layers(depicted as anchor tabs 192). In such case, anchor tabs 194, designedas additional nucleation points for a termination of one polarity, maybe printed in the same plane as the electrode layers of the oppositepolarity. In still further embodiments, anchor tabs may also be used inbetween active layers when there is greater spacing between such layers,such as in generally lower capacitance or higher voltage rated devices.Such internal anchor tabs between active layers in FIG. 19C are depictedas anchor tabs 196. Since it is possible to provide anchor tabs anywheredesirable within an electronic device to provide nucleation points alonga device periphery, overall device size or capacitance should not limitthe use and application of plated terminations in accordance with thepresently disclosed technology.

Another option for extending nucleation points into the cover layers ofa multilayer capacitor is represented in FIG. 19D. Instead of utilizingonly anchor tabs 192 in the cover layers, common electrode layers 198may be provided in the cover layers with or without additional anchortabs 192. In such embodiment, the active electrode layers 200 of thedevice comprise multiple pairs of opposing first and second electrodelayers. One of the cover layers may then include common electrode layersformed in the same or similar fashion as the first electrode layer,while the other cover layer includes common electrode layers similar tothe second electrode layers. Each layer could include anchor tabs asillustrated in FIG. 19D but anchor tabs may not be required inembodiments where the spacing between electrode layers is sufficientlysmall. An advantage to using common electrode layers in the cover layersas opposed to only anchor tabs may be realized by the common electrodelayers providing additional mechanical support and uniformity in thecover layers.

There are several different techniques that can potentially be used toform plated terminations, such as terminations 72 on multilayercomponent embodiment 74 of FIG. 8A. As previously addressed, a firstmethod corresponds to electroplating or electrochemical deposition,wherein an electronic component with exposed conductive portions isexposed to a plating solution such as electrolytic nickel orelectrolytic tin characterized by an electrical bias. The componentitself is then biased to a polarity opposite that of the platingsolution, and conductive elements in the plating solution are attractedto the exposed metallization of the component.

In accordance with a more particular exemplary method of electroplatinga thin-film metal to form termination structures or other platedstructures on the periphery of electronic components, an initialcleaning step may be implemented before the electroplating step. Such acleaning step is employed to remove any oxide buildup that forms on theexposed portions of internal electrodes or anchor tabs. This cleaningstep may be particularly helpful to assist in removing any buildup ofnickel oxide when the internal electrodes and/or anchor tabs or otherconductive elements are formed of nickel. Component cleaning may beeffected by full immersion of electronic component(s) in a precleanbath, such as one including an acid cleaner with no media. In oneexemplary embodiment, components are exposed to such a preclean bath fora predetermined time, such as on the order of about 10 minutes.Component cleaning may alternatively be effected by chemical polishingor harperizing steps as later described in more detail. It should beappreciated that the cleaning step and other subsequent plating stepsdescribed herein can occur as a bulk process, such as a barrel plating,fluidized bed plating and/or flow-through plating termination processes,all of which are generally known to one of ordinary skill in the art.Such bulk processes enable multiple components to be processed at once,providing an efficient and expeditious termination process. This is aparticular advantage relative to conventional termination methods, suchas the printing of thick-film terminations, that require individualcomponent processing.

With further reference to an exemplary electroplating method, the abovecleaning step may be followed by the direct electroplating process. Asbriefly described above, one or more electronic components with exposedconductive portions is fully immersed in a plating solutioncharacterized by an electrical bias. The component itself is then biasedto a polarity opposite that of the plating solution, and conductiveelements in the plating solution are attracted to the exposedmetallization of the component. When the exposed portions of internalconductive elements are arranged in groups, termination structures aredeveloped by controlled bridging of the plating material among eachrespective group of exposed conductive portions. In one exemplaryembodiment, an electrolytic plating solution such as a copper (Cu) acidbath, or other suitable copper bath solution, with organic additives andmedia is utilized for direct electroplating of thin-film Cu to theperiphery of one or more electronic components. In another exemplaryembodiment, a Nickel Sulfamate bath solution, or other nickel bathsolution, is used for direct electroplating of thin-film nickel (Ni) torespective component peripheries. Nickel Sulfamate baths may be providedwith with appropriate media. Preselected pH levels for such bathsolutions may be controlled in a fixed process window or by other meansknown to those of ordinary skill in the art. These electrolytic platingsolutions are subjected typically to a high current density range, forexample, ten to fifteen amp/ft² (rated at 9.4 volts). In one particularexemplary embodiment, a plurality of electronic components are barrelplated in a 2.5×4 inch barrel at 16 rpm for about 60 minutes.

With still further reference to an exemplary electroplating method, anadditional annealing step as previously described may also be optionallyemployed. In some embodiments when copper is directly electroplated,such annealing step may not be necessary thus eliminating process cost.Process cost may also be reduced when nickel is directly electroplated,eliminating an initial copper layer utilized in some multilayertermination structures.

A second plating technique involves full immersion of electroniccomponents in a plating solution with no polar biasing. Such techniqueis referred to as electroless plating, and can be employed inconjunction with electroless plating solutions such as nickel or copperionic solution. In accordance with electroless plating techniques, alsoreferred to in some applications as immersion plating, preliminary stepsmay sometimes be utilized before immersing an electronic component in agiven electroless plating solution. After an electronic component isformed with exposed metallic electrode and/or anchor tab portions, achemical polishing step may be effected to aid exposure of the metallicportions. For example, when electrode and/or anchor tab portions aremade of Nickel, chemical polishing can help to chemically remove anybuildup of Nickel Oxide (NiO) on the periphery of the yet unterminatedcomponent.

A still further example of a preliminary step that may be utilized inaccordance with presently disclosed electroless plating techniques is astep to activate the exposed metallic portions of the device tofacilitate depositing of the electrolessly plated materials. Activationcan be achieved by immersion of the electronic component in Palladiumsalts, photo patterned Palladium organometallic precursors (via mask orlaser), screen printed or ink-jet deposited Palladium compounds orelectrophoretic Palladium deposition. It should be appreciated thatPalladium-based activation is presently disclosed merely as an exampleof activation solutions that often work well with activation for exposedelectrode and/or tab portions formed of Nickel or Nickel-based alloys.In other embodiments, alternative activation solutions may be utilized.In still further embodiments, a Palladium (Pd) dopant may be introducedinto the Nickel ink that forms the capacitor electrodes and/or anchortabs to eliminate the Pd activation step for electroless Cu deposition.It should be further appreciated that some of the above activationmethods, such as organometallic precursors, also lend themselves toco-deposition of glass formers for increased adhesion to the generallyceramic body of an electronic component. When activation steps are takenas described above, traces of the activator material (represented byportions 202 in FIG. 26A) often remain at the exposed conductiveportions before and after termination plating.

In accordance with electrolytic plating (electrochemical deposition) andelectroless plating techniques, a component such as IDC 74 of FIG. 8A,is preferably submersed in an appropriate plating solution for aparticular amount of time. With certain embodiments of the presentsubject matter, no longer than fifteen minutes is required for enoughplating material to deposit at exposed conductive locations along acomponent such that buildup is enough to spread the plating material ina perpendicular direction to the exposed conductive locations and createa bridged connection among selected adjacent exposed conductiveportions. In some embodiments of the present technology, completelybridged terminations may not be formed when plating an initial material,but only after subsequent plating steps. For example, referring to FIG.25, a first plating step may result in the formation of unconnected“bump”-like portions 204 of plating material. A completely bridgedtermination is then achieved upon plating a second portion 206 ofmaterial over the initial unconnected portions 204. It should be furthernoted with respect to FIG. 25 that the initial build-up of electrolessplating portions 204 underneath final plated layer 206 may result in agenerally “wavy” appearance at the termination periphery. This visualaspect may be evident even when initial plated portions 204 are formedin a connected bridge, and with or without the provision of subsequentplated layers.

Another technique that may be utilized in accordance with the formationof the subject plated terminations involves magnetic attraction ofplating material. For instance, nickel particles suspended in a bathsolution can be attracted to similarly conductive exposed electrode tabsand anchor tabs of a multilayer component by taking advantage of themagnetic properties of nickel. Other materials with similar magneticproperties may be employed in the formation of plated terminations, orother materials can be coated over the magnetic cores.

A still further technique regarding the application of platedtermination material to exposed electrode tabs and/or anchor tabs of amultilayer component involves the principles of electrophoretics orelectrostatics. In accordance with such exemplary technology, a bathsolution contains electrostatically charged particles. An IDC or othermultilayer component with exposed conductive portions may then be biasedwith an opposite charge and subjected to the bath solution such that thecharged particles are deposited at select locations on the component.This technique is particularly useful in the application of glass andother semiconductive or nonconductive materials. Once such materials aredeposited, it is possible to thereafter convert the deposited materialsto conductive materials by intermediate application of sufficient heatto the component.

A related advantage of most of the methods disclosed herein for formingplated terminations is that multiple electronic components can beterminated in a bulk process, such as a barrel plating, fluidized bedplating and/or flow-through plating termination processes, all of whichare generally known to one of ordinary skill in the art. Such aspectfacilitates more convenient and expedient component termination sincedevice manufacture no longer requires the selective application ofterminations via precisely configured termination machines.

It should also be appreciated that as these electronic parts get eversmaller, the practical matter of being able to physically hold themwhile applying the thick film termination to each end becomes lesspracticable.

Further, this thin film approach provides less dimensional variability,permitting easier automatic handling.

One particular methodology for forming plated terminations in accordancewith the disclosed technology relates to a combination of theabove-referenced plating application techniques. A multilayer componentmay first be submersed in an electroless plating solution, such ascopper ionic solution, to deposit an initial layer of copper overexposed tab portions, and provide a larger contact area. The platingtechnique may then be switched to an electrochemical plating systemwhich allows for a faster buildup of copper on the selected portions ofsuch component.

In still further exemplary methods, the initial component submersion inan electroless plating solution may effect the formation of initialunconnected portions 204 such as illustrated in FIG. 25. Electrochemicalplating or electrolytic plating may then be employed to form asubsequent bridged portion 206 of termination material. When the initialportions 204 are formed of Copper, the bridged portion 206 maycorrespond to additional buildup of Copper in some exemplary embodimentsor to electroplated deposition of a different material, such as nickel(Ni), gold (Au), silver (Ag), nickel-phosphorus (NiP), or other suitablealloys in other exemplary embodiments.

In accordance with the different available techniques for platingmaterial to exposed conductive elements of a multilayer component inaccordance with the present technology, different types of materials maybe used to create the plated terminations and form electricalconnections to internal features of an electrical component. Forinstance, metallic conductors such as nickel, copper, tin, etc. may beutilized as well as suitable resistive conductors or semi-conductivematerials, and/or combinations of selected of these different types ofmaterials.

A particular example of plated terminations in accordance with thepresent subject matter wherein plated terminations comprise a pluralityof different materials is discussed with reference to FIG. 8B. FIG. 8Bprovides a cross-sectional view of component 74 of FIG. 8A taken alongplanar section line A-A in accordance with a particular exemplaryembodiment of plated terminations 72. It should be appreciated thatterminations 72 may comprise only a first plating layer and noadditional layers as presented in this example. Due to such potentialfor variation in the number of plating layers in the multilayercomponent and termination embodiments of FIGS. 8A and 8B, the tworespective embodiments are labeled as 74 and 74′ respectively, and suchreference is not intended to insinuate additional variations between thetwo respective embodiments.

A first step in the formation of the terminations illustrated in FIG. 8Binvolves submersing a component in an electrolytic or electrolessplating solution such that a layer of copper 76 or other metal isdeposited along the periphery of component 74′ where portions ofinternal anchor tabs 58 and 68, exposed internal electrode tabsextending from electrode layers 52 and 54, and external anchor tabs 70are exposed. The tab area covered with metallic plating 76 and entiresurface of component 74′ can then be covered with a resistor-polymericmaterial 78 for sealing. The tab area can then be polished toselectively remove resistive polymeric material and then plated againwith metallic copper or other material 80. In other exemplaryembodiments, termination layer 78 may correspond to a solder barrierlayer, for example a Ni-solder barrier layer. In some embodiments, layer78 may be formed by electroplating an additional layer of nickel on topof an initial electrolessly or electrolytically plated layer 76 (e.g.,plated copper). Other exemplary materials for layer 78 includenickel-phosphorus, gold, and silver. A third exemplary termination layer80 may in some embodiments correspond to a conductive layer, such asplated Ni, Ni/Cr, Ag, Pd, Sn, Pb/Sn or other suitable plated solder.

A still further plating alternative corresponds to forming a layer ofmetallic plating, and then electroplating a resistive alloy or a higherresistance metal alloy coating, for example, electroless Ni—P alloy oversuch metallic plating. In accordance with present subject matter, it ispresently possible to include any metal coating except the first coatingas electroless or electrolytic plating, as those of ordinary skill inthe art will understand from the complete disclosure herewith. Yetanother embodiment includes an initial electrolytically plated layer ofthin-film nickel, followed by plated layers of tin (Sn) or gold (Au). Insome embodiments, a copper (Cu) layer may first be electrolyticallyplated before the nickel layer. Selection of plating materials forforming termination structures in accordance with aspects of the presentsubject matter may be determined in part by whether the electroniccomponents will be soldered or wirebonded in their respective circuitapplications.

Plating layers can be provided alone or in combination to provide avariety of different plated termination configurations. A fundamental ofsuch plated terminations is that the self-determining plating isconfigured by the design and positioning of exposed conductive portionsalong the periphery of a component. It should be appreciated that theaforementioned plated terminations having multiple layers are notlimited to utilization with the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 8A and8B, and may be practiced in accordance with all illustrated, disclosedand otherwise obvious electronic component variations.

Such particular orientation of internal electrode portions and anchortabs may be provided in a variety of different configurations tofacilitate the formation of plated terminations in accordance with thepresent subject matter. For instance, consider the exemplary internalconductive configuration of FIG. 3B with electrode layers 26 and 28.Electrode tabs 30 and internal anchor tabs 82 may be provided in a bodyof dielectric material to create a multilayer component similar to thatof FIG. 4A. Additional internal anchor tabs 84 and external anchor tabs86 may also be provided. One of the prescribed plating techniques maythen be utilized to form plated terminations on multilayer component 88along the exposed areas of metallization.

Yet another exemplary multilayer component in accordance with aspects ofthe present subject matter is represented as component 90 in FIG. 4B.Internal electrode layers are provided with electrode tabs that extendto four sides of component 90. Additional internal anchor tabs 94 may beinterleaved with exposed electrode tabs 92. Still further internalanchor tabs 96 may be embedded within cover layers of component 90 toprovide for expanded plated terminations. The provision of externalanchor tabs 98 could facilitate the formation of wrap-around platedterminations to top and/or bottom sides of the component. Such externalanchor tabs 98 may be printed directly into the ceramic plate or tapeforming the topmost substrate layer to form an “embedded” layer that iscompletely flush with the topmost substrate layer. By embedding suchportions of the electronic component, terminations may be lesssusceptible to partial breakage or inadvertent removal and a moreaesthetically designed overall component may also be effected.

Examples of different peripheral termination shapes, such as effected byselective arrangement of external anchor tabs, are now presented withreference to FIGS. 10A, 10B, 11A, 11B, 12A and 12C. Referring moreparticularly to FIG. 10A, a multilayer electronic component 150 hasmultiple pairs of opposing electrodes embodied by respective firstelectrodes 152 and respective second electrodes 154. Each electrodelayer is formed on a respective ceramic layer, on which at least oneanchor tab 156 may also be provided. Additional anchor tabs 158 may alsobe provided in dielectric cover layers without electrode elements, suchthat exposed conductive regions are provided along the general entiretyof either side of multilayer component 150. By providing the exposedconductive anchor tabs 158 into the cover layers and approachingselected respective corners 157 of the component 150, the formation ofgenerally “I-shaped” terminations 159 a and 159 b, such as depicted inFIG. 10B is facilitated. Such “I-shaped” terminations provide aland-less termination that still enables good solder wetting to aprinted circuit board or other mounting surface, since the terminationspreferably extend completely to the top and/or bottom surfaces ofcomponent 150.

Referring now to FIGS. 11A and 11B, a multilayer electronic component160 has multiple pairs of opposing electrodes embodied by respectivefirst electrodes 162 and respective second electrodes 164. Eachelectrode layer is formed on a respective ceramic layer, on which atleast one anchor tab 166 may also be provided. Additional anchor tabs168 may also be provided in dielectric cover layers without electrodeelements, such that exposed conductive regions are provided along thegeneral entirety of either side of multilayer component 160. Externalanchor tabs 165 are also preferably provided on a selected one of thetop and bottom sides of component 160 such that resultant “J-shaped”terminations 169 a and 169 b are formed in accordance with the subjectplating technology. Such “J-shaped” terminations provide lands formounting the electronic component to a printed circuit board or othermounting surface, and since the lands are only on a selected side ofcomponent 108, a predetermined component mounting orientation isprovided.

The absence of conductive portions on the top surface is sometimesdesirable, for example, when the surface may come in contact with a heatshield or RF shield, which could cause a short circuit.

It should be appreciated in accordance with the above description ofFIGS. 11A and 11B, that shorthand characterization of terminations 169 aand 169 b as generally “J-shaped” should be considered from a generallybroad descriptive perspective, and should not be considered limiting toembodiments of the present technology. For example, a “J-shaped”termination can be interpreted in different embodiments to describeterminations formed as either an upper-case “J” or a lower-case “j”. A“J”-shaped termination when considered in a lower case “j” embodimentmay be regarded as similar to a reversed perspective of an “L” shapedstructure, each including two generally perpendicular extended portions.When provided as a termination in the context of certain embodiments ofthe present subject matter, such a termination may extend along a givenperipheral surface while wrapping around to one selected surfaceadjacent to the given peripheral surface. An upper case “J”-shapedtermination may be similar to a lower case “j”-shaped termination inthat it includes two generally perpendicular portions, but may furtherinclude a portion corresponding to the small crossbar at the top of anupper case “J”. When provided as a termination in the context of certainembodiments of the present subject matter, such a termination may have amain portion extending along a given peripheral surface while includinglands wrapping around to opposing surfaces adjacent to the givenperipheral surface, with one land generally longer than the other land.The longer land may be representative of the bottom base portion of acapital “J”, while the shorter land may be representative of the uppercrossbar portion.

Referring now to FIGS. 12A and 12B, a multilayer electronic component170 has multiple pairs of opposing electrodes embodied by respectivefirst electrodes 172 and respective second electrodes 174. Eachelectrode layer is formed on a respective ceramic layer, on which atleast one anchor tab 176 may also be provided. Additional anchor tabs178 may also be provided in dielectric cover layers without electrodeelements, such that exposed conductive regions are provided along thegeneral entirety of either side of multilayer component 170. Externalanchor tabs 175 are also preferably provided on both top and bottomsides of component 170 such that resultant “U-shaped” terminations 179 aand 179 b are formed in accordance with the subject plating technology.Such “U-shaped” terminations provide lands for mounting either side ofelectronic component 170 to a printed circuit board or other mountingsurface.

With regard to FIGS. 10B, 11B and 12B, it should be appreciated that therespective terminations 159 a, 159 b, 169 a, 169 b, 179 a and 179 b maybe selectively formed as single layer terminations or as multilayerterminations. For example, each peripheral termination in FIGS. 10B, 11Band 12B may correspond to a single layer of plated copper or nickel.Alternatively, such terminations may be formed to have an initial layerof plated copper followed by respective plated solder barrier and solderlayers, for example nickel and then tin. In accordance with multilayeredterminations, selected of the layers could be formed of a resistive or asemiconductive material.

A still further application of the presently disclosed technologyrelates to more general multilayer component configurations, such asdepicted in FIGS. 15A, 15B and 15C. Electrode layer 162 of FIG. 15A andelectrode layer 164 of FIG. 15B are provided in respective generallyrectangular configurations such that when interleaved with dielectriclayers to form a multilayer device such as depicted in FIG. 15C, suchelectrodes 162 and 164 extend to alternating ends 166 and 168 of themultilayer device 170. Anchor tab portions 172 may also be providedwithin the respective electrode layer planes to increase the density ofexposed conductive portions along the ends 166 and 168 of device 170 andto facilitate the formation of plated terminations thereto. Externalanchor tabs, or lands, 174 may also be provided on top and/or bottomsurfaces of device 170 and in alignment with the exposed internalelectrode and anchor tab portions to facilitate selected formation ofwrap-around terminations to one or more top/bottom surfaces. Aftersubjecting the device 170 to one or more of the plating techniquesdescribed herein, the formation of plated terminations in accordancewith the present subject matter may be effected. It should beappreciated that additional embodiments of the present subject mattermay incorporate similar electrode configurations as illustrated in FIGS.15A and 15B, where electrode plates 162 and 164 are generallysquare-shaped instead of rectangular.

Yet another exemplary multilayer configuration for use in accordancewith embodiments of the present subject matter is illustrated in FIGS.6A, 6B, 6C, 6D, 6E, 6F and 6G. Electrode layer 100 of FIG. 6A andelectrode layer 102 of FIG. 6B are provided in respective T-shapedconfigurations such that electrode tab portions 104 b extend fromelectrode layer 100 and electrode tab portions 104 a extend fromelectrode layer 102. When electrode layers 100 and 102 are interleavedwith dielectric layers to form a multilayer electronic device, such asshown in FIG. 6C, each electrode tab portion 104 a and 104 b is exposedon two adjacent sides of the device 108. More particularly, the baseportion defined between respective tabs 104 b and the base portiondefined between respective tabs 104 a are both exposed along an entireside of device 108 as well as to portions of two respective surfacesadjacent to the given side surface. Anchor tab portions 106 a and 106 bmay also be provided within the electrode layer planes such that exposedconductive portions are aligned along the opposing peripheral sides ofdevice 108, to facilitate formation of plated electrodes thereon. Aftersubjecting device 108 to one of the plating techniques described herein,the formation of corner terminations would be effected. It should beappreciated that provision of such terminations around selected cornersof a multilayer electronic component was often difficult to achieve withprior art termination processes. It should be further appreciated by oneof ordinary skill in the art that corner-terminated designs can beachieved not only in device 108, but in many other specificallyconfigured devices, and it should further be appreciated that, analogousto the anchor tab discussion above, the corner wrap can be provided ononly one corner, when that is desirable, as when an orientation featuremay be needed.

A further advantage of the exemplary configuration illustrated in FIGS.6C may be realized when many more dielectric and electrode layers arestacked to form an assembly 109 as depicted in FIG. 6D. Similar to FIG.6C, a plurality of first electrodes 104 a (and optionally includingadditional anchor portions 106 a) are exposed in a column along one sideof the device 109 while a plurality of second electrodes 104 b (andoptionally additional anchor portions 106 b) are exposed along the sideof device 109 opposing the side at which first electrodes 104 a areexposed. Each electrode portion 104 a and 104 b (and any correspondingoptional anchor portions 106 a and/or 106 b) may actually be exposedalong an entire side of device 109 and onto two adjacent side surfaces.This unique stacked assembly 109 may then be terminated in accordancewith the disclosed plating technology to form two terminations 111 a and111 b as illustrated in FIG. 6E. The assembly 109 depicted in FIG. 6D isflipped to its side as depicted in FIG. 6E to be configured for mountingto a substrate. The unique corner terminations 111 a and 111 b effectedin such assembly enable both side surface 113 and the surface opposingside surface 113 to be equally capable of mounting to a surface, thusproviding component orientation and mounting versatility.

Referring now to FIGS. 6F and 6G, it should be appreciated that theexemplary electrodes and corner terminations illustrated and discussedwith reference to FIGS. 6A-6E are not limited to one termination 111 aof a first polarity and one termination 111 b of a second polarity. Asillustrated in FIG. 6F, such electrodes 104 a and 104 b may beselectively interleaved with dielectric layers (with or withoutadditional anchor tab portions 106 a and 106 b) to form distinct columnsof exposed conductive portions. In accordance with the“self-determining” plating technology of the present subject matter,such distinct exposed areas may result in the formation of multiplefirst terminations 111 a and 111 a′ and multiple second terminations 111b and 111 b′. It should be appreciated that many more than two or fourterminations per assembly (as illustrated herein) may be effected.

Yet another example of a corner-terminated multilayer electronic deviceis illustrated in FIGS. 16A-16D, respectively. Electrode layer 150 ofFIG. 16A and electrode layer 152 of FIG. 16B are provided in respectiveconfigurations such that generally rectangular tab portions 154 areprovided at opposing corners of respective generally rectangular baseportions 155. When electrode layers 150 and 152 are interleaved withdielectric layers to form a multilayer device 156, such as shown in FIG.16C, respective corner tab portions 154 of the set of electrode layers150 (depicted in FIG. 16C by solid lines) are exposed for termination atopposite corners of the device 156 while the respective corner tabportions of the set of electrode layers 152 (depicted in FIG. 16C bydashed lines) are exposed at the other two corners. When such a device156 of FIG. 6C is subjected to the plating technology disclosed herein,a plurality of terminations 161 a, 161 b, 163 a and 163 b are formed atthe periphery of such device as illustrated in FIG. 16D. Flipping theterminated device on its side for mounting allows all electrodes to beaccessed from any of the four generally larger side surfaces 158 ofdevice 156, allowing any of such four side surfaces 158 to be mounted toa substrate. It should be appreciated that each corner termination 161a, 161 b, 163 a and 163 b need not be one continuous termination asillustrated in FIG. 16D. Alternatively, selective arrangements ofinternal electrodes 150 and 152 may result in one or more columns percorner such as represented by the embodiment of FIGS. 6F and 6G.

The electrode and corresponding capacitor design of FIGS. 16A-16D allowsfor much greater freedom of orientation in surface mount devices, whichmay be of particular advantage in some exemplary embodiments of thepresent subject matter since reduced component size sometimes increasespotential difficulty in achieving proper device orientation for testing,tape/reel and pick/place applications, and actual device mounting. Theseadvantages may be realized for generally rectangular devices, butgreater orientation insensitivity may be achieved when the cross sectionof device 156 (as defined by top and bottom surfaces 160) are defined bya generally square shape. As mentioned above with regard to the cornerterminations of FIGS. 6A-6C, it should be appreciated that utilizationof plated terminations with the exemplary embodiment of FIGS. 16A-16Dprovides additional advantage since provision of corner terminationswith previous printing technologies was often difficult, especially insmaller components. Although not illustrated in the embodiments of FIGS.16A-16D, it should be appreciated that the illustrated electrodeconfiguration may be supplemented by anchor tab portions (such asgenerally “L”-shaped or triangular corner tabs) in the active and/orcover layers and/or serving as external lands of the device to provideadditional nucleation points for forming plated terminations inaccordance with the disclosed technology.

Yet another example of a multilayer electronic component with which thepresently disclosed technology may be utilized is depicted in FIGS. 13A,13B and 13C. Electrode layer 130 of FIG. 13A and electrode layer 132 ofFIG. 13B are provided in respective J-shaped configurations such thatelectrode tab portions 134 extend from the respective electrode layers.When electrode layers 130 and 132 are interleaved with dielectric layersand stacked to form a multilayer ceramic device, such as shown in FIG.13C, each electrode tab portion 134 (represented by an respective solidline) is exposed at selected locations along the top side of the device138. Anchor tab portions 136 may also be provided within the electrodelayer planes and/or within dielectric cover layers such that additionalexposed conductive portions (as depicted by the respective dashed linesin FIG. 13C) may facilitate formation of plated electrodes thereon.Components that utilize “J-shaped” electrodes as depicted in FIGS.13A-13C have the advantage in certain applications of having inherentlypredetermined component orientation, since terminations are formed onlyon one side of the component.

A slight variation to the “J-shaped” electrodes illustrated in FIGS.13A-13C, respectively, corresponds to the “T-shaped” electrodes embodiedin FIGS. 14A, 14B and 14C. Electrode layer 140 of FIG. 14A and electrodelayer 142 of FIG. 14B are provided in respective T-shaped configurationssuch that electrode tab portions 144 extend from the respectiveelectrode layers. When electrode layers 130 and 132 are interleaved withdielectric layers and stacked to form a multilayer ceramic device, suchas shown in FIG. 14C, each electrode tab portion 144 (represented by anrespective solid line) is exposed at selected locations along both topand bottom sides of the device 148. Anchor tab portions 146 may also beprovided within the electrode layer planes and/or within dielectriccover layers such that additional exposed conductive portions (asdepicted by the respective dashed lines in FIG. 14C) may facilitateformation of plated electrodes thereon.

A still further exemplary device configuration for use with the subjectplated termination technology is depicted in FIGS. 17A, 17B and 17C.Multiple electrode layers 176 such as depicted in FIG. 17A and electrodelayers 178 such as depicted in FIG. 17B are interleaved with a pluralityof dielectric layers to form a multilayer device 180 such as depicted inFIG. 17C. Each respective electrode layer 176 and 178 has a plurality ofelectrode tabs extending therefrom which are exposed at selectedlocations along the generally longer sides 184 of device 180. Theextended portions 177 of each electrode layer 176 are exposed in analigned column at side 186 of device 180 while the extended portions 179of each electrode layer 178 are exposed in an aligned column at side 188of the device. It should be appreciated that although not illustrated inFIGS. 17A-17C, anchor tabs may supplement the electrode layers 176 and178 in the active and/or cover layers and/or serving as external landsof the device to provide additional nucleation points for forming platedterminations in accordance with the disclosed technology.

There are a relatively high number of exposed conductive portions in themultilayer device embodiment of FIG. 17C. Electroless plating techniquesand others as previously described herein may be utilized to form platedterminations at the exposed conductive portions, but it may be difficultin some embodiments to utilize only electroplating or electrochemicaldeposition techniques when the intended number of terminations is highand/or termination pitch and/or termination size is relatively small.Referring to the device of FIG. 17C, electroplating techniques requirethat each exposed conductive portion (portions 180 and 182 as well asthe exposed ends 177 and 179 of electrode layers 176 and 178) must beelectrically biased for the electrolytic plating solution to beattracted to and deposited at the exposed conductive portions. If onlysome of the conductive portions are biased, termination formation maynot bridge across all exposed portions in one or more aligned columns.In order to make electroplating a more viable option for the device 180of FIG. 17C, printed end terminations 190 may be applied to the extendedrespective end portions 177 and 179 of electrode layers 176 and 178 atthe device sides 186 and 188. Printed end terminations 190 would formtwo collective electrical connections for the respective electrodelayers of opposing polarities. Such terminations may correspond to therelatively thick-film stripes conventionally applied to terminateelectronic devices and may wrap around to one or more selected sides ofthe device if desired. The device 170 with printed terminations 190 maythen be subjected to an electroplating solution, and as long as theterminations 190 are biased, then each exposed conductive portion 180and 182 will also be energized such that plating material will bedeposited thereon. This method can serve to greatly reduce thepossibility of plated terminations not forming at one or more exposedconductive portion 180 and 182 during electroplating techniques.

Another example embodying aspects of the disclosed technology ispresented with respect to FIGS. 9A and 9B. FIG. 9A represents anintegrated passive component 110, comprising a combination of passivecomponents provided in a single monolithic structure. Integratedcomponent 110 may include a selected combination of resistors,varistors, capacitors, inductors, couplers, baluns, and/or other passivecomponents. Each distinct passive component is typically characterizedby at least one conductive electrode-like portion from which at leastone electrode tab portion 112 extends and is exposed along the peripheryof component 110.

An integrated passive component 110, such as that represented by FIG.9A, may have a plurality of different internal electrode arrangements asshown. Corresponding electrode tabs 112 may be provided in symmetricalor nonsymmetrical configurations and may be grouped in a variety offashions. An important feature is that exposed electrode tabs 112 may bearranged within component 110 to facilitate the formation of selectiveplated terminations. In addition, internal anchor tabs 114 and/orexternal anchor tabs 116 may also be provided with an integrated passivecomponent to create additional selective termination arrangements. Forexample, consider the exposed tab arrangement of FIG. 9A, with numerousexposed internal electrode tabs 112, internal anchor tabs 114, andexternal anchor tabs 116. Subjecting such configuration to a platingsolution in accordance with variations of the presently disclosedtechnology would preferably effect the formation of a plurality ofplated side terminations 118 and plated wrap-around terminations 120,such as in FIG. 9B. Integrated passive component, or multilayerelectronics device, 110′ simply corresponds to an integrated passivecomponent such as 110 of FIG. 9A with the addition of platedterminations 118 and 120, respectively. Thus, tabs of an integratedpassive component can be designed whereby plated terminations can beformed among different electrodes and different component layers.

Referring now to FIGS. 20, 21A-21C and 22, various additional aspects ofthe present subject matter will now be discussed. FIGS. 21A, 21B and 21Cillustrate different exemplary cross-sections of multilayer capacitor208 taken along the planes defined by lines D-D and E-E. The crosssections of FIGS. 21A, 21B and 21C illustrate the generally shorter sideof capacitor 208 when delineated by line D-D on which exemplarytermination 210 b might be formed and the upper portion defined by lineE-E. Although FIGS. 21A-21C reference one particular device corner, itshould be appreciated that many multilayer devices are formed in asubstantially symmetrical fashion in one or more dimensions and thus theillustrated portions may actually be representative of multipleedges/corners of multilayer device 208. FIGS. 21A-21C do not illustrateend terminations 210 a and 210 b depicted in FIG. 20, but illustrate theexposed conductive portions that could lead to formation of suchterminations in accordance with the subject plated terminationtechnology.

FIGS. 21A and 21B illustrate the effects of corner rounding on anelectronic component. “Corner rounding” is yet another step that may beimplemented before actual termination plating in accordance with thepresent technology in order to effect general rounding of previouslysharp edges of an electronic component. Such rounding may promote bettertermination coverage and device uniformity among parts, as well asreduce potential chipping that might come from handling multiplecomponents having the sharp edges in bulk. In accordance with such“corner rounding”, a plurality of electronic components may be subjectedto a predefined level of mechanical agitation either while in the greenstate, usually with a soft media or none at all, or while in the firedstate with media and/or water. This process when applied to componentsin a fired state is sometimes referred to by those of ordinary skill inthe art as “harperizing”.

A representation of such corner rounding is presented in a before andafter comparison of FIGS. 21A and 21B. In the multilayer componentportions of FIGS. 21A and 21B, multiple pairs of opposing firstelectrode layers 212 and second electrode layers 214 are interleavedamong a plurality of dielectric layers to form the active region of acapacitor 208. Anchor tabs 217 may also be provided in such activeregion to increase the density of exposed conductive portions alongselected areas of the active region periphery. A cover layer (generallyrepresented as region 218) may be provided at top and/or bottom surfacesof the active region of capacitor 208. A cover layer may consist ofmultiple layers of dielectric material (e.g., ceramic sheets) amongwhich anchor tabs 220 may be provided. By arranging anchor tabs in thecover layers such that they are exposed at the device periphery, similarto the first and/or second electrode layers 212 and 214, platedterminations can be deposited along the entire height of the capacitor208.

Referring to FIG. 21B, it should be noted that a level of mechanicalagitation to round the corners of capacitor 208 can be controlled inorder to provide anchor tabs 220 having predetermined length(s) in thecorner radius portion 222 of the device. Predetermined agitationvariables such as duration and effectiveness may be predetermined toachieve different results. For instance, longer agitation times mightresult in higher levels of corner rounding while less agitation couldreduce potential component wear. One portion of multilayer electroniccomponents that is often more susceptible to mechanical abrasionassociated with a corner rounding process are external anchor tabs, orlands, 224 which may be provided on a device to facilitate wrap-aroundterminations. For at least this reason, external anchor tabs 224 areoften formed with a greater thickness than internal anchor tabs. Forexample, in some embodiments, internal anchor tabs such as tabs 217 inthe active layers or tabs 220 in the cover layers as well as internalelectrodes 212 and 214 may be characterized by an exemplary thickness ofabout two μm or less, while external lands 224 may be characterized byan exemplary thickness of about five μm or more. In general, thethickness of external lands 224 may be about two times the thickness ofinternal electrodes and/or anchor tabs for added robustness when aresultant electronic component is to be subjected to mechanicalagitation associated with corner rounding or harperizing.

One option for reducing the exposure of the subject components to cornerrounding or harperizing would be to dice the components such that lessor no tumbling is required to achieve generally rounded device corners.For example, referring to FIGS. 23A-23C, respectively, it should beappreciated and known by one of ordinary skill in the art thatcapacitors in accordance with the present subject matter are typicallymanufactured in a bulk process whereby relatively large capacitor arraysare assembled and then diced to form individual components. FIG. 23Arepresents an exemplary portion 226 of such a capacitor array thatenables one to see how the internal conductive portions 228 may beformed that are cut to provide anchor tabs 230 for more than onemultilayer capacitor. Instead of conventional component dicing which maybe effected by a substantially straight line depicted at 232 in FIG.23A, the dicing could correspond to a “V”-type cut, such as representedat cut(s) 234 in FIG. 23B. A “V”-type cut would serve to angle thecorners of the component such that much less tumbling or harperizingwould be needed to achieve a capacitor 236 with rounded corners asdepicted in FIG. 23C. Furthermore, the external lands 224 may not needto be quite as thick as otherwise needed to survive corner rounding.

Yet another design aspect that may be practiced in some embodiments ofthe present technology to achieve increased mechanical robustness of adevice, which becomes especially desirable when tumbling or harperizingof a device is effected, corresponds to the inclusion of certain amountsof ceramic in the material forming the conductive portions of anelectronic device. For example, in a multilayer ceramic capacitor, theinternal electrode layers and internal and/or external anchor tabs mayeach be respectively formed of a certain volume percentage (vol %) ofconductive ink (e.g., nickel (Ni), Copper (Cu), etc.) and a certain vol% of ceramic. It should be appreciated that some conductive portions maybe formed with up to 75 vol % ceramic (and a corresponding counter vol %of conductive ink such that the two percentages combine to 100 vol %).It should be appreciated that somewhat of a tradeoff exists in thecombination of ceramic and conductive ink: higher vol % ceramic helpsachieve increased robustness but to a loss of conductivity by reducedlevels of the conductive ink. In more specific exemplary embodiments,internal electrodes and/or internal anchor tabs are formed withconductive ink (e.g., Ni ink)) combined with about 20 vol % ceramic(e.g., barium titanate). Adding ceramic to such conductive portionshelps control electrode shrinking when a part is fired duringmanufacturing. External anchor tabs (lands) may include even more vol %ceramic than the internal conductive portions, such as on the level ofabout 30 vol % ceramic. As conductive portions of the subject capacitorsare formed with increasing percentages of ceramic material, decreasedceramic powder particle size, such as less than about 1 μm, mayfacilitate adherence of the ceramic and conductive materials. Althoughincreasing the ceramic content generally increases the adhesion of theprinted material, it does reduce the conductivity of that layer. This isnot critical, however, as the subsequent plating of pure materials willbe very conductive again.

Referring now to FIG. 21C, a multilayer device in accordance with thepresent subject matter is depicted with an exemplary dimensionalrelationship among specific components. In the device of FIG. 21C, thelength 238 of anchor tabs 220 in the cover layer 218 is less than thelength of the end margin 240 between the device periphery and theelectrode layers 214. When cover layer anchor tab length 238 is the sameor longer than end margin length 240 (such as the instances illustratedin FIGS. 21A and 21B) a potential risk may exist of the anchor tabs 220shorting with one or more of the upper second electrodes 214. This riskis greatly reduced in the embodiment of FIG. 21C. If the anchor tabs 220or 217 come into contact internally with any of the first electrodes212, device functionality will not be effected since those conductiveportions will all be coupled together anyways upon the formation ofexternal terminations.

Referring now to FIG. 22, another aspect of corner rounding inmultilayer electronic components will now be presented. FIG. 23generally represents a corner radius portion 222 of a cover layerportion 218 such as illustrated in FIG. 21B. It is visually illustratedin FIG. 21B that when a device corner is rounded, the distance betweenexposed locations of adjacent cover layer anchor tabs 220 increasestowards the top of a device. In order to maintain a more constantlateral exposure of anchor tabs (or common active layers or whateverconductive portions may be internally provided near top and/or bottomsurfaces of a multilayer electronic component), the density of suchanchor tabs 220 may be increased towards the top surface 242 of thedevice. For example distances between anchor tabs closer to the topsurface 242 (such as distance 246) are less than distances (such asdistance 244) between anchor tabs further from the top surface 242.

Several examples and test results will now be presented for a pluralityof multilayer capacitors terminated with a direct electrolytic platingprocess in accordance with the presently disclosed technology.

In a first example, a lot of 200 components with part number“NT054015-24” (0306 size) two-terminal LGA-type multilayer capacitor(AVX Corp.) were subjected to cleaning and direct copper electrolyticplating steps as previously described. The average thickness of thedirectly electroplated copper portions was about 21±2.88 microns. Theaverage capacitance was measured to be about 1.022 microFarads, theaverage dissipation factor (DF) was measured to be about 6.983%, and theaverage insulation resistance (IR) was measured at about 1.48 Gigaohms.One-hundred of the two-hundred components were subjected to an annealingstep (where the components were heated to a temperature of aboutsix-hundred degrees Celsius) and then to a termination adhesion peeltest to determine the adhesion strength of the plated terminations, andevery component passed this test. The other one-hundred components weresubjected to a termination adhesion peel test without being annealed,and every component in this group also passed the peel test. Fifty ofthe annealed parts and fifty of the non-annealed parts were thensubjected to a terminated thermal shock dip test, a stress test wherebythe parts are plunged in solder, and no part in either fifty-part groupfailed.

With further reference to this first example, the lot of two-hundredparts with direct copper electroplating were then subjected toadditional electroplating to form respective layers of nickel (Ni) andthen tin (Sn) over the initial thin-film copper. After these subsequentplating steps, each part passed the same termination adhesion peel test.Termination strength was also measured by a shear test. Annealedcomponents withstood an average force of about 11.4 pounds andnon-annealed components withstood an average force of about 13.2 lbs.Ten parts were then subjected to a second annealing step, which wasfound to negatively affect the termination integrity for somecomponents. As such, annealing may be more helpful in some embodiments,if at all, only after plating of the initial copper (or other) layer.

A second example tested a lot of 200 components with part number“NT054015-24” (0306 size) two-terminal LGA-type multilayer capacitor(AVX Corp.). These components were subjected to cleaning and directnickel electrolytic plating steps as previously described. The averagethickness of the directly electroplated nickel portions was about13.2±1.9 microns. One-hundred of the two-hundred components weresubjected to an annealing step (where the components were heated to atemperature of about six-hundred degrees Celsius) and then to atermination adhesion peel test to determine the adhesion strength of theplated terminations, and every component passed this test. The otherone-hundred components were subjected to a termination adhesion peeltest without being annealed, and every component this group also passedthe peel test. The components were then subjected to additionalelectrolytic plating to form tin (Sn) over the nickel (Ni) portions. Theaverage thickness of the plated tin portions was about 7.4±1.9 microns.These components were also subjected to termination adhesion peel test,and all parts passed. In an electrical check of the components, theaverage capacitance was measured to be about 1.024 microFarads, theaverage dissipation factor (DF) was measured to be about 6.951%, and theaverage insulation resistance (IR) was measured at about 1.61 Gigaohms.Termination strength was also measured by a shear test, and ten testedcomponents withstood an average force of about 9.97 pounds.

It should be appreciated that the monolithic component embodimentsillustrated in and discussed with reference to the present figures areprovided merely as examples of the disclosed technology, includingintermediate aspects thereof. In some of the examples, four or moregeneral columns of electrodes are depicted, but a fewer or greaternumber of electrode columns are possible, depending on the desiredcomponent configuration. Furthermore, many different variations of theexemplary electrode configurations presented herein may be implemented,and thus such examples should not be limiting to the type of structureswith which the subject plated termination technology may be employed. Itis possible to form plated terminations along any selected portion ofany selected component side in accordance with the disclosed technology.

It should be appreciated that internal anchor tabs and external anchortabs may selectively be used for different termination preferences toprovide different sizes of side terminations or wrap-aroundterminations. IDC embodiments displayed and described herein thatfeature both internal and external anchor tabs may, for instance, onlyutilize internal anchor tab features when wrap-around terminations arenot preferred for a particular application. Different combinations,geometries, or sizes of both internal and external anchor tabs withexisting exposed electrode tabs on a variety of different multilayercomponents can yield numerous potential termination schemes for adevice.

While the present subject matter has been described in detail withrespect to specific embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated thatthose skilled in the art, upon attaining an understanding of theforegoing may readily adapt the present technology for alterations to,variations of, and equivalents to such embodiments. Accordingly, thescope of the present disclosure is by way of example rather than by wayof limitation, and the subject disclosure does not preclude inclusion ofsuch modifications, variations, and/or additions to the present subjectmatter as would be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

1. A multilayer electronic component, comprising: a plurality ofdielectric layers, each dielectric layer being delimited laterally byedges; a plurality of internal electrodes selectively interleaved amongsaid plurality of dielectric layers, wherein selected portions of saidplurality of internal electrodes extend to and are exposed in respectivegroups along at least one edge of said plurality of dielectric layers,said interleaved combination of internal electrodes and dielectriclayers forming a monolithic assembly characterized by respective topmostand bottommost surfaces; and at least one portion of electrochemicaldeposit comprising thin-film plating material formed along the peripheryof said multilayer component and connecting exposed portions of saidplurality of electrodes within each respective group.
 2. The multilayerelectronic component of claim 1, wherein the distance between adjacentexposed portions of said plurality of internal electrodes within eachrespective group is no greater than about ten microns.
 3. The multilayerelectronic component of claim 1, further comprising a plurality ofinternal anchor tabs selectively interleaved among said plurality ofdielectric layers and extending to and exposed along at least one edgeof said plurality of dielectric layers in said respective groups.
 4. Themultilayer electronic component of claim 3, wherein the distance betweenadjacent exposed portions of said plurality of internal electrodes andsaid plurality of internal anchor tabs within each respective group isno greater than about ten microns.
 5. The multilayer electroniccomponent of claim 3, wherein the distance between adjacent groups ofexposed internal electrodes and internal anchor tabs is at least twiceas great as the distance between exposed internal electrodes andinternal anchor tabs in any given group.
 6. The multilayer electroniccomponent of claim 1, wherein said at least one portion ofelectrochemical deposit comprises one of nickel or copper.
 7. Themultilayer electronic component of claim 1, wherein said at least oneportion of electrochemical deposit comprises one of palladium, tin,gold, silver, or tin-lead alloys or other alloys.
 8. The multilayerelectronic component of claim 1, further comprising additional portionsof plating material formed over said at least one portion ofelectrochemical deposit.
 9. The multilayer electronic component of claim8, wherein said at least one portion of electrochemical depositcomprises nickel and said additional portions of plating materialcomprise tin.
 10. The multilayer electronic component of claim 8,wherein said at least one portion of electrochemical deposit comprisescopper and said additional portions of plating material comprise a firstportion of nickel and a second portion of tin.
 11. The multilayerelectronic component of claim 1, wherein said plurality of internalelectrodes comprise one of nickel, platinum, silver or asilver-palladium alloy.
 12. The multilayer electronic component of claim1, wherein the exposed portions of said plurality of internal electrodesand said plurality of internal anchor tabs are aligned in one or morecolumns along the periphery of the multilayer electronic component. 13.The multilayer electronic component of claim 12, wherein each exposedinternal electrode portion and exposed internal anchor tab portion in agiven column is exposed along the periphery of said multilayerelectronic component at a distance less than about eight microns from atleast one other of the exposed internal electrode portions and exposedinternal anchor tab portions in said given column.
 14. The multilayerelectronic component of claim 13, wherein the distance between selectedadjacent internal electrodes and internal anchor tabs in selectedrespective columnar groups is closer towards the topmost and bottommostsurfaces of the monolithic assembly than at the inner layers of saidassembly.
 15. The multilayer electronic component of claim 13, furthercomprising a plurality of external anchor tabs selectively provided onone or more of the topmost and bottommost surfaces of the monolithicassembly.
 16. The multilayer electronic component of claim 15, whereinthe exposed portions of said plurality of internal electrodes, theexposed portions of said plurality of internal anchor tabs and saidplurality of external anchor tabs are aligned in one or more columns atselected peripheral portions of the multilayer electronic component, andwherein a respective portion of said electrochemical deposit is formedalong each of said one or more columns and onto selected of the topmostand bottommost surfaces of the monolithic assembly where said externalanchor tabs are provided.
 17. The multilayer electronic component ofclaim 1, wherein said plurality of internal electrodes comprisecapacitor plates of opposing first and second polarities, and whereinthe exposed portions of said plurality of internal electrodes arealigned in at least one column including internal electrodes of thefirst polarity and at least one column including internal electrodes ofthe second polarity.
 18. The multilayer electronic component of claim 1,wherein said plurality of internal electrodes are configured in agenerally interdigitated configuration with multiple electrode tabportions extending from one or more selected sides of selected internalelectrodes such that the electrode tab portions are exposed at apredetermined number of aligned columns at peripheral locations on themulilayer electronic component.
 19. The multilayer electronic componentof claim 18, wherein said predetermined number of multiple alignedcolumns is in a range of four (4) to forty (40).
 20. A method of formingelectrolytically plated structures for electronic components, saidmethod comprising the following steps: providing a plurality ofelectronic components, each electronic component comprising a pluralityof insulating substrate layers selectively interleaved with a pluralityof internal conductive elements, wherein selected portions of theinternal conductive elements are exposed at selected locations along theperiphery of the electronic component; providing an electrolytic platingsolution with an electrical bias; and fully immersing said plurality ofelectronic components in said electrolytic plating solution for apredetermined amount of time such that a plating material is depositedon selected of the exposed internal conductive elements of saidplurality of electronic components, and respective terminationstructures are developed by controlled bridging of the plated materialamong selected of the exposed internal conductive elements.
 21. Themethod of claim 20, wherein said predetermined amount of time isdetermined corresponding to a required time to build up plating materialto a thickness of greater than about one micron.
 22. The method of claim20, wherein said plurality of electronic components are fully immersedin said electrolytic plating bath solution for a predetermined amount oftime such that bridged termination structures having respectivethicknesses of between about two and about twenty microns are effected.23. The method of claim 20, wherein said electrolytic plating solutioncomprises a nickel or copper bath solution.
 24. The method of claim 20,wherein said electrolytic plating solution comprises a nickel sulfamatebath.
 25. The method of claim 20, wherein the plating material that isdeposited on selected of the exposed internal conductive elements ofsaid plurality of electronic components to form respective terminationstructures comprises nickel, and further comprising the step of platingat least one additional layer of thin-film metal over the nickeltermination structures.
 26. The method of claim 25, wherein said atleast one additional layer of thin-film metal over the nickeltermination structures comprises one of tin and gold.
 27. The method ofclaim 20, wherein said electrolytic plating solution comprises a copperacid bath.
 28. The method of claim 20, wherein the plating material thatis deposited on selected of the exposed internal conductive elements ofsaid plurality of electronic components to form respective terminationstructures comprises copper, and further comprising the step of platingat least one additional layer of thin-film metal over the coppertermination structures.
 29. The method of claim 28, wherein said atleast one additional layer of thin-film metal over the coppertermination structures comprises a first portion of nickel and a secondportion comprising one of tin and gold.
 30. The method of claim 20,further comprising a step of cleaning selected surfaces of the pluralityof electronic components before fully immersing the electroniccomponents in the electrolytic plating solution.
 31. The method of claim30, wherein the internal conductive elements of said plurality ofelectronic components comprise nickel and wherein said cleaning stepcorresponds to substantially removing any buildup of nickel oxide on theexposed portions of the internal conductive elements.
 32. The method ofclaim 20, further comprising a step of heating the plurality ofelectronic components to strengthen the adhesion of the respectivebridged termination structures to the electronic components.
 33. Amethod of forming electrolytically plated structures, said methodcomprising: providing a plurality of layers, each layer being delimitedlaterally by edges; providing a plurality of internal electrodesselectively interleaved among said plurality of layers, wherein selectedportions of said plurality of internal electrodes extend to and areexposed in respective groups along at least one edge of said pluralityof layers, said interleaved combination of internal electrodes andlayers forming a monolithic assembly characterized by respective topmostand bottommost surfaces; and electrolytically depositing at least oneportion of thin-film plating material along the periphery of saidmultilayer component and connecting exposed portions of said pluralityof electrodes within each respective group, wherein said thin-filmplating material is formed of at least one metal, and wherein thedistance between adjacent exposed portions of said plurality of internalelectrodes within each respective group is no greater than about tenmicrons.
 34. The method of claim 33, further including the step ofproviding a plurality of internal anchor tabs selectively interleavedamong said plurality of layers and extending to and exposed along atleast one edge of said plurality of layers in said respective groups,and wherein the distance between adjacent exposed portions of saidplurality of internal electrodes and said plurality of internal anchortabs within each respective group is no greater than about ten microns.35. The method as in claim 34, wherein said plurality of layers comprisea respective plurality of dielectric layers of a multilayer electroniccomponent.
 36. The method as in claim 33, wherein said at least oneportion of thin-film plating material comprises one of nickel or copper.37. The method as in claim 33, wherein said at least one portion ofthin-film plating material comprises one of palladium, tin, gold,silver, or tin-lead alloys or other alloys copper.